As a teacher, I believe in my students. I understand that my students come from various backgrounds, have various aptitudes, and may or may not have an interest in my content. It is this classroom of diverse learners that I expect to see day in and day out. I allow this expectation to shape my classroom. I attempt to construct a classroom that is comfortable and inviting, but most importantly a classroom that radiates success. Success is more than a test score on a standardized test. Success is the feeling of accomplishment, the feeling of being accepted, the feeling of expressing oneself and one's strengths. A success in my classroom is walking away with a greater understanding of the content, a desire to learn more on a subject, learning life lessons, and developing as an individual. I do not discredit my content or the importance of teaching the material to pass the test. I intend to uphold that end of teaching, however, it is my belief that there is more to teaching then teaching to the test.
I expect to meet resistance, I expect to meet apathy, I expect to meet misconceptions as well as disbelief. Despite these expectations and the hurdles they represent, I believe that all students are reachable. Teaching is about hooks and how you sell your subject. Science lends itself to being one of the most interesting subjects one can teach--at the very least, that is how I believe every science teacher should approach the subject. It is my belief that as teacher, you are a salesman. It is your job to pull in your students, to get their attention, and to let the learning come naturally and without warning. This is achievable by providing hands on experiences, activities that are geared towards student interest, utilization of technology and other medias, as well as bringing in real world examples and current events. In my classroom, I not only focus on content matter, but I want students to learn the tools necessary to be a learner. I want to address critical thinking, note taking, content literacy, and connection building. I want my students to learn what it is to do science; this is beyond teaching them what science tells us. I want them to see the exploration behind it, the thoughts, ideas, and how it all connects to the world around us; as well as how it can be used in other fields.
As a teacher I aim to develop strong student-teacher relationships that enrich my students' learning experiences. I aim to promote communication between myself, my students, and their families. As stated, I expect my classroom to be full of individuals, to be full of diverse learners; it is my job to take this group and pull it together into a community of learners. I do not wish to extinguish individuality in my classroom; I aim to promote it. However, I want my classroom to be a safe and inviting classroom where students feel comfortable sharing their opinions and insights. I will construct this classroom by being respectful to my students and expecting the same from them (as well towards each other). I want to promote students discussing science and life. I want my students to interact, to ask questions, to debate, provide support for claims, and so forth. To do this, I believe that I must be a true role model and promote such behaviors. Furthermore, to create this safe learning environment, I believe in communicating my expectations, rules, and goals in an attempt to be transparent to my students. I believe from this classroom my students will walk out with a stronger sense of self identity, self confidence, as well as a greater interest in science.
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Matthew Ducker Duffy
EDC 430 Original Teacher Philosophy As a teacher, I believe in my students. I understand that my students come from various backgrounds, have various aptitudes, and may or may not have an interest in my content. With this understanding, it is my belief that my students can achieve success. Students succeeding in the classroom is my primary goal as a teacher; however, I believe there are more ways to measure success than to simply pass a standardized test. A success in the classroom is walking away with a greater understanding of the content, a desire to learn more on a subject, learning life lessons, and developing as an individual.
I believe all students are reachable. By teaching science through relatable and interesting depictions, students will be interested and engaged. This is achievable by providing hands on experiences, activities that are geared towards student interest, utilization of technology and other medias, as well as bringing in real world examples and current events. In my classroom, I not only focus on content matter, but I want students to learn the tools necessary to be a learner. I want to address critical thinking, notetaking, content literacy, and connection building. I want my students to learn what it is meant to do science. I want them to see the exploration behind it, the thoughts, ideas, and how it all connects to the world around us; as well as how it can be used in other fields.
As a teacher I aim to develop strong student-teacher relationships that enrich my students' learning experiences. I aim to promote communication between myself, my students, and their families. I want my students to be able to also communicate and work among themselves to reflect a community of learners. I want my classroom to be a safe and inviting classroom. I will construct this classroom by being respectful to my students and expecting the same from them (as well towards each other). I want to promote students discussing science and life. I want my students to interact, to ask questions, to debate, provide support for claims, and so forth. To do this, I believe that I must be a true role model and promote such behaviors. Furthermore, to create this safe learning environment, I believe in communicating my expectations, rules, and goals in an attempt to be transparent to my students. I believe from this classroom my students will walk out with a stronger sense of self identity, self confidence, as well as a greater interest in science.
Teacher Philosophy
As a teacher, I believe in my students. I understand that my students come from various backgrounds, have various aptitudes, and may or may not have an interest in my content. It is this classroom of diverse learners that I expect to see day in and day out. I allow this expectation to shape my classroom. I attempt to construct a classroom that is comfortable and inviting, but most importantly a classroom that radiates success. Success is more than a test score on a standardized test. Success is the feeling of accomplishment, the feeling of being accepted, the feeling of expressing oneself and one's strengths. A success in my classroom is walking away with a greater understanding of the content, a desire to learn more on a subject, learning life lessons, and developing as an individual. I do not discredit my content or the importance of teaching the material to pass the test. I intend to uphold that end of teaching, however, it is my belief that there is more to teaching then teaching to the test.
I expect to meet resistance, I expect to meet apathy, I expect to meet misconceptions as well as disbelief. Despite these expectations and the hurdles they represent, I believe that all students are reachable. Teaching is about hooks and how you sell your subject. Science lends itself to being one of the most interesting subjects one can teach--at the very least, that is how I believe every science teacher should approach the subject. It is my belief that as teacher, you are a salesman. It is your job to pull in your students, to get their attention, and to let the learning come naturally and without warning. This is achievable by providing hands on experiences, activities that are geared towards student interest, utilization of technology and other medias, as well as bringing in real world examples and current events. In my classroom, I not only focus on content matter, but I want students to learn the tools necessary to be a learner. I want to address critical thinking, note taking, content literacy, and connection building. I want my students to learn what it is to do science; this is beyond teaching them what science tells us. I want them to see the exploration behind it, the thoughts, ideas, and how it all connects to the world around us; as well as how it can be used in other fields.
As a teacher I aim to develop strong student-teacher relationships that enrich my students' learning experiences. I aim to promote communication between myself, my students, and their families. As stated, I expect my classroom to be full of individuals, to be full of diverse learners; it is my job to take this group and pull it together into a community of learners. I do not wish to extinguish individuality in my classroom; I aim to promote it. However, I want my classroom to be a safe and inviting classroom where students feel comfortable sharing their opinions and insights. I will construct this classroom by being respectful to my students and expecting the same from them (as well towards each other). I want to promote students discussing science and life. I want my students to interact, to ask questions, to debate, provide support for claims, and so forth. To do this, I believe that I must be a true role model and promote such behaviors. Furthermore, to create this safe learning environment, I believe in communicating my expectations, rules, and goals in an attempt to be transparent to my students. I believe from this classroom my students will walk out with a stronger sense of self identity, self confidence, as well as a greater interest in science.
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Matthew Ducker Duffy
EDC 430
Original Teacher Philosophy
As a teacher, I believe in my students. I understand that my students come from various backgrounds, have various aptitudes, and may or may not have an interest in my content. With this understanding, it is my belief that my students can achieve success. Students succeeding in the classroom is my primary goal as a teacher; however, I believe there are more ways to measure success than to simply pass a standardized test. A success in the classroom is walking away with a greater understanding of the content, a desire to learn more on a subject, learning life lessons, and developing as an individual.
I believe all students are reachable. By teaching science through relatable and interesting depictions, students will be interested and engaged. This is achievable by providing hands on experiences, activities that are geared towards student interest, utilization of technology and other medias, as well as bringing in real world examples and current events. In my classroom, I not only focus on content matter, but I want students to learn the tools necessary to be a learner. I want to address critical thinking, notetaking, content literacy, and connection building. I want my students to learn what it is meant to do science. I want them to see the exploration behind it, the thoughts, ideas, and how it all connects to the world around us; as well as how it can be used in other fields.
As a teacher I aim to develop strong student-teacher relationships that enrich my students' learning experiences. I aim to promote communication between myself, my students, and their families. I want my students to be able to also communicate and work among themselves to reflect a community of learners. I want my classroom to be a safe and inviting classroom. I will construct this classroom by being respectful to my students and expecting the same from them (as well towards each other). I want to promote students discussing science and life. I want my students to interact, to ask questions, to debate, provide support for claims, and so forth. To do this, I believe that I must be a true role model and promote such behaviors. Furthermore, to create this safe learning environment, I believe in communicating my expectations, rules, and goals in an attempt to be transparent to my students. I believe from this classroom my students will walk out with a stronger sense of self identity, self confidence, as well as a greater interest in science.